Category Archives: personal training vs group class

Everybody will have their own personal, individual goals. If you have not thought about this before then I can not recommend thinking about these, writing them down & putting them up somewhere that you will see frequently. Put them on your fridge, on your bedroom door or somewhere you will see and be reminded that this week you want to eat more healthily or this week you are beginning the journey of enduring 100 press-ups. :o) Whatever your goals are, they are personal to you and will help to motivate you.

Anyway, I digress a little from the topic. Let’s continue….If you exercise in a class environment then all the goals of the people in that class will be different. Considering this and the fact that each person within the class will be at a different level of fitness and have differing levels of health means that the class can not be tailored for each individual. So, while you are exercising which is great and group classes definitely have their place, you may not be exercising in the most effective way for you and your goals. With this in mind, if you are not achieving your goals it is easy to become de-motivated. And, this is where a personal trainer can be of vital importance.

If you want to lose weight then a class will help, but if the sessions are individually tailored for you then you will lose weight faster, feel great after every workout and therefore feel better and highly motivated.

If you have a muscular imbalance that you would like to be addressed, it’s very unlikely this can be looked at in a group environment as there are many class members for the instructor to look after. Likewise with any previous injuries a personal trainer is able to help you recover faster as they only have you to look after and not a dozen (or so) other exercisers.

If you would like to begin to see a personal trainer then I would recommend looking at a handful near you and get a feel for who you think you’d work best with. You can get a lot of useful information from a website and don’t be scared to call them for a chat as this is the perfect way to put your mind at ease. If you don’t feel 100% comfortable talking on the phone chances are that you won’t in person. So, take the time to research and find the best personal trainer for you.

It’s good practise to meet with the personal trainer for a consultation, some times this is absolutely free. This way you can meet them before you have committed to training and is another indication that they are the right choice for you.

You may still be participating in two group classes a week (depending on goals of course) as well as seeing the personal trainer, so they can work together, but it’s that personal one to one time that is so beneficial to you in so many ways.

Once you’ve chosen a personal trainer then they will most probably complete a fitness test and write you a tailored fitness programme to follow which focuses on your goals and the results from the fitness test.

Everybody is happy and you can smile because you’ve just made an investment in your health and your own body which is one of the most important things in life.